According to the New York Times, Fars News Agency reports a partial “recounting” of votes has begun in Iran. But they are not being counted. They were not even counted the first time. Fars says the “recount” in the Kurdish province of Kermanshah shows “no irregularity.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has almost no support among Kurds whatsoever. Claiming he “won” 70 percent in Kermanshah is as outlandish as Dick Cheney winning San Francisco and Berkeley in a landslide.
A few years ago I profiled Abdulla Mohtadi, the commander of a heavily armed Kurdish revolutionary army just on the Iraq side of the Iran-Iraq border near Kermanshah. He spent his young adulthood fighting the Shah’s regime in 1979 and was accordingly arrested and tortured by the SAVAK. Now he’s spending his middle age fighting the Khomeinists who liquidated his liberal and leftist comrades in the post-revolution struggle for power.
He sent me the following message by email:
What happened in Iran is in fact a coup d’etat, by the Pasdaran (the Revolutionary Guards) and the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) himself. We in Kurdistan did not participate in the elections, not because we did not want to participate in the political process for change, but exactly because we knew that it could only play in the hands of dictators in Tehran. We frequently emphasized that we deeply sympathized with the people who desperately wanted change and thought going to vote would bring about that change, but repeatedly warned that dictators would take it as their source of legitimacy while they would never allow any change in the government by whatever means and at whatever costs. Now this has come true.
UPDATE: The The British Ahwazi Friendship Society provides a detailed look at the politics of Kermanshah and other ethnic minority regions.
http://www.israelpolicyforum.org/blog/did-israel-intentionally-undermine-obamas-outreach-iran
answer: of course.
If you think the problem is with us (see above) and not them, then this all makes sense (well, by “us” we mean those dastardly conservativies, neo- species in particular).
Say the magic words, issue the right apology, remove the “irrational” fear of us and all of our problems will (mostly) disappear.
For some reason these people believe that when Christian fundamentalists say gay people are evil or other such noxious stuff, they mean it. But when Islamic fundamentalists say noxious stuff they somehow thinkg they can dissuade them of such views.
I simply don’t get it.
They don’t either.
Klein probably gets the tingly leg saying, “Supreme Leader.” “I mean Khamenei, not Obama.”
lester, read your link. moronic. you really are a tool. a dull one. peres’ message is what potus’ should have been, if he had any sense, and any stones.
“make it clear that we’re willing to be reasonable, that our goal isn’t regime change (hence, the reference to Iran as the ‘Islamic Republic.’”
If our policy toward a government as odious as Iran’s isn’t regime change, we’re unreasonable, or at least the relativist academics conducting our foreign policy are.
RPM- wether you approve of it or not, obamas message is HIS, not his and israel’s. they purposely undermined his statement but all you are going to read in the media is “iran rejects overtures of peace”.
Why does anyone read Klein? He was a toady for Clinton, and he’s an incessant cheerleader for Obama. He pleasures himself with faux-sophistication. (Does he even know what neolithic means?) He answers administration critics with juvenile put-downs. This is not analysis or observation, it’s in-crowd behavior from junior high. Where is the value is that?
jester, who says Iran wants peace? What overtures for peace has Iran made?
forbes- that’s not the point. israel put out a “greeting” to coincide with obamas, that was just like it but more hawkish.
Also, on it’s own, the obama statement is not a big deal and if you’ll recall george bush, hawk he was, made VERY similar statements to “the iranian people ” throughout his presidency, some bordering on eloquent.
So leastone’s point is …?
10 israel is sabotaging our attempts at diplomacy in the middle east, as usual
Actually, Lester, it IS a big deal. He is specifically NOT calling for regime change. That’s about the biggest deal it could be, considering the regime he is not calling for change from, is a theocratic fascist state that considers the US the great Satan and longs for an apocalypse that will bring forth the Mahdi so they can all be with Allah and which is well along in its development of nuclear weapons which will enable it to make that apocalypse happen. But don’t take my word for it Lester, just listen to what the Iranian regime says to its own people.
israel is sabotaging our attempts at diplomacy in the middle east, as usual
And not one word of criticism from the usual crowd of Tehran’s actions or policies.
Not a word.
Or Hamas’s actions, or Hezbollah’s actions, or Syria’s actions.
Yeah, yeah, they “don’t get billions of dollars from us.”
Right.
steve- israel can think or do whatever they want but do not mess with our president holiday videograms!!!
Any policy toward Iran but regime change is foolishness – their policy toward US is “regime change.”
Also – where are the American crowds who are applauding this idiocy?
Lester: Since Iran promptly used Obama’s letter as jhadic toilet paper, what’s the next step in your master’s smart power plan for the misguided Iranians: reveal that his still-unread stimulus act contains a midnight basketball program for alienated Iranian youth?
Here’s the simple, if unpalatable, truth: Obama has no interest in protecting the U.S.’s interests abroad. He’s writing these letters just to say he’s done something. When push comes to shove, he’ll be pushed back, and down. And he’ll never raise a finger, until the mob lights up Nancy’s and Harry’s phones. Then he’ll do whatever the Four Horsemen of the Polls (Stephanopolis, Emanuel, Carville and the fourth dweeb whose name I forget) tell him to do. And for all we know, smart power will be revealed to be Wag the Dog.
The fourth horsemen is that smarmy a-hole, Begala.
Lester, don’t we have a date tonight? I’m having a showing of Triumph of the Will.
You know lester, it’s hard to know whp’s a bigger tool, Obama or MJ Rosenberg.
Thing is, though, Obama is President, and Rosenberg is a nobody.
If anyone expected Khamenei to respond with, “Put ‘er there, pal,” they’ve never done business with Iranians. If this works, it will take time and bargaining.
BTW, Iran, though flawed, is the only democracy in the Middle East.
Obama looks and behaves as complete idiot even in comparison with 85 years old Peres who was not that bright ever.
At least before this “greeting” Obama was obviously idiotic when he was separated from his teleprompter. In this case even teleprompter did not help.
Grumpy Old Man, let’s take a trip together to the home of the free and the brave, Iran.
We can bring your laptop so you won’t miss a minute of Contentions. What would they do without your profound comments?
BTW, Iran, though flawed, is the only democracy in the Middle East.
Really? When is “Supreme Leader” Khamenei going to the polls?
Apparently our President’s video greeting to Iran edited out the American flag. Wouldn’t want to offend the sensitive Jihadis! Dhimmitude is now our national stance towards practitioners of the ROP.
Massive P
Stop carping; the Troll admitted that Iranian democracy was flawed.
But, again guys, instead of focusing on the article, even disagreeing with it if you want, you’re answering silly comments by Trolls.
Not one word of the people of Iran, their freedom, their rights to a decent life. George Bush spoke and believed in liberty. Power to the people, on the same side as the oppressed people, that was the idea, the reason to fight, something worth fighting for. Ask the Persian refugees in Los Angeles why, and how, they escaped. Bloggers and reporters in Tehran beaten to death. Not a word of protest.
Kissing the ass of the dictators and Ayatollahs is the plan, the ideology of the hate-America Left. Still having anti-war parades in Los Angeles and Washington. Obama is with them.
Loving the totalitarian, opposing freedom, thats Obama. He hates this country. He would become Hugo Chavez if he could. There is an evil dictator just under the veneer of that slick talking Ivy-League lawyer.
Many of us saw this coming, predicting his radicalism. We saw it at every point in his life. He would sell out his mother. In fact, he did.
So, Grumpy, Israel and Iraq don’t count as democracies because?
There is a leak from JournoList that Joe Klein has been one of the most vitriolic about Israel in the closed discussions. It is also said that the JournoList generally is very hostile to Israel with only a few TNR types like Jonathan Chait mounting a defense within the blog.
When like-minded people talk in a closed environment, the tendency is for their postions to become more extreme. It sounds like that is what is happening with JournoList and Israel.
Herr Raimondo, did you pay for this copy of my masterpiece, or is it some internet bootleg? An artist, if she is to continue making sycophantic masterpieces of Aryan propaganda must be compensated. Why just the other day Herr Hitler, himself, gave me a pat on the bum, my best part, for this work. But from him money I do not expect, after all, he co-authored the film. Had I known how poor Adolph ended up, I would have entitled the picture, “Remains of the Clay.” Who knows, maybe Herr Hopkins may have turned down “Silence of the Lambs” and played the lead. He, as Hannibal Lector, and Adolph were remarkably similar, except of course, Herr Hitler was a vegetarian who indulged in cannibalism only by proxy. Hell! how do you thing Herr Goring got so fat. As for our mutual neo-Nazi pal Lester, do not tease him so shamelessly. He could end up in one of your Chicago Beerhalls venting spleen. I hate to point out the obvious, but as a political move it has worked for other schwartzes.
John Hartland, Lester and I are having a tete a tete tonight. Why don’t we make it a threesome? I know you don’t get out much because of your condition: Jewitisphobe.
Leni, be careful, Jackie Mason got in trouble for swa….
Obama is a disgrace to this country. I am all for diplomacy, but I’ve never seen an American president so abjectly kiss our enemies’ ass, without even a strategic reason! as the post points out, it ain’t working.
I think it’s about time for the “Don’t blame me, I voted for McCain/Palin” bumper stickers.
darkness at noon- you missed the ENTIRE PPOINT of the link article I posted, which is that Israel sent their OWN message to Iran in an obvious attempt to sabatoge our diplomacy with them.
You know I noticed this story was all over the airwaves this weeked , of course NONE of the mentioned Israel underming us.
even at Commentary:
“Meanwhile, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is upset that Obama is not the change he was waiting for. Perhaps MSNBC can book Iran’s Supreme Leader on Rachel Maddow or he can get his own Huffington Post column.”
herbert rubin “Not one word of the people of Iran, their freedom, their rights to a decent life. ”
the ones you all want to nuke?
No one wants to nuke Iran, lester.